Julien Mercille: No way forward, and no way back

Thousands who left Afghanistan as refugees now fill camps at the decaying 2004 Olympic venues in Greece, reclassified as ‘economic migrants’

People sit at the Moria refugee camp where asylum-seekers wander the complex on April 15, in Mytilini on Lesbos island in Greece Pic: Getty

There are currently 54,000 migrants and refugees stranded in Greece, packed in some 40 sites around the country. While in Athens, I decided to explore Elliniko camp, known as the worst one in the city for the conditions that refugees endure. Journalists and human rights organisations have had little or no access to it.

Elliniko is composed of three camps, called Baseball, Hockey and Domestic Arrivals. This is because it is located on ...